The Romanian business of Austria’s energy giant OMV has reached an agreement with German firm Uniper to supply natural gas to Germany from a Black Sea project from 2027, sources with knowledge of the deal have told Reuters.
Austria and Europe as a whole are looking to secure alternative gas supply to offset the loss of Russian pipeline gas deliveries.
Russia began cutting off European customers after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Later that year, the Nord Stream pipelines in the Baltic Sea to Germany were blown up, while the Russian gas giant Gazprom halted deliveries to its remaining customers in Europe after the end of the gas transit deal via Ukraine last week.
The agreement between OMV’s Romanian unit and Uniper is for five years. The natural gas is expected to come from the Neptun Deep project in the Black Sea, according to Reuters’s sources.
Neptun Deep is the largest natural gas project in the Romanian Black Sea and the first deepwater offshore project in Romania, OMV’s Romanian business, OMV Petrom, says.
First gas from the project is expected for 2027, with the estimated natural gas production equivalent to around 30 times the current annual demand of about 4.3 million households.
When Neptun Deep comes on stream, it is expected to make Romania the biggest natural gas producer in the European Union (EU), as well as a net gas exporter for the very first time.
Norway, not an EU member but a close ally to the bloc, is the single biggest gas supplier to Europe, having replaced Russia in 2022.
Norway’s natural gas exports hit a record level in 2024 and are expected to remain close to this all-time high in the next few years, gas export system operator Gassco said earlier this week. Last year marked a record year for Norwegian exports to Europe, Gassco said, adding that Norway’s gas accounted for 30% of Europe’s natural gas imports and about 9% of all European energy consumption.